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Work in Progress: Understanding How ECE Senior Undergraduates Perceive Their Strengths and Weaknesses in Individual vs. Collaborative Writing

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Conference

2025 ASEE Southeast Conference

Location

Mississippi State University, Mississippi

Publication Date

March 9, 2025

Start Date

March 9, 2025

End Date

March 11, 2025

Conference Session

Professional Papers

Tagged Topics

Diversity and Professional Papers

Page Count

10

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/54201

Download Count

3

Paper Authors

biography

Alexis P. Nordin Mississippi State University

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Alexis Nordin is currently an Instructor II in the Shackouls Technical Communication Program in Mississippi State University’s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering. She has taught technical writing and various other writing- and communication-based courses at MSU since 2004. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Mississippi State University and Louisiana State University and is certified as a Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

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Abstract

This work revisits research begun in a work-in-progress paper published in 2022 and presents additional data and findings relevant to that work. In that study, the authors asked junior- and senior-level engineering undergraduates representing eight engineering departments within Mississippi State University’s Bagley College of Engineering to complete a survey self-assessing their writing abilities in terms of strengths, weaknesses, and workplace preparedness. The authors found that students rated their own writing abilities much more highly than engineering faculty rated student writing. However, that study did not analyze survey responses by specific engineering major. In Part I of this follow-up paper, the author narrows the scope to the largest group of respondents—senior electrical and computer engineering (ECE) students—and compares their survey responses to the findings in the original paper. Part II of this paper drills down by asking ECE seniors to reflect in detail on strengths and deficits they identify in their writing, both as individual writers and as collaborative writers. Themes are explored for potential new instructional opportunities.

Nordin, A. P. (2025, March), Work in Progress: Understanding How ECE Senior Undergraduates Perceive Their Strengths and Weaknesses in Individual vs. Collaborative Writing Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Southeast Conference , Mississippi State University, Mississippi. https://peer.asee.org/54201

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